Abhanga 4302
In a crisis, even people we call our own can act like thieves, and Tukaram says only the Name of Rama proves to be the true, dependable relative.
The verse
धन्या आतां काय करूं । माझें तान्हुलें लेकरूं ॥१॥
धन्या अवचित मरण आलें । मज कोणासी निरविलें ॥ध्रु.॥
माझें दारवंड नका पाडूं । त्याचे हात पाय तोडूं ॥२॥
एके हातीं धरली दाढी । घे कुर्हाडी दुजे हातीं ॥३॥
येरी घाव घालूं पाहे । तंव तो उठोनि उभा राहे ॥४॥
तुका म्हणे अवघीं चोरें । सेकी रामनाम सोइरें ॥५॥
Literal translation
Master-now-what-to-do — tiny-baby. Master — suddenly-death — to-whom-left. Don't-break-doorpost — we'll-cut-his-hand-foot. One-held-beard — other-axe. As-strike — he-rose-stood. Tukā: all-thieves — finally-Rāma-Name-only-kinsman.
What it means
A 5-verse rare-comic-narrative. Master, now what to do — (I have) my tiny baby. Master — suddenly death came — to whom did you leave me? "Don't break my doorpost — else we'll cut his hand and foot." One held him by the beard; the other took up the axe in his other hand. As (the second) was about to strike — he rose and stood up. Tukā says: all are thieves — at the end, only Rāma-Name is the true-kinsman. Reading: a wife-narrator-laments her dead-master; thieves come to break the doorpost; she threatens (?); a dramatic-moment as one holds the dead-master's beard and other lifts the axe — then the master (or the Lord) rises and stands. The final moral: all-(humans)-are-thieves; only Rāma-Name is the true-kinsman (sōiyarē). Pair with 4267 (only-you-cut-loka-lāja).
For someone today
Tukaram tells a vivid little story: a household is thrown into panic when death suddenly arrives, a baby is left behind, and thieves threaten to break down the door and cut off hands and feet. In the tense moment, one man grabs the master by the beard while another raises an axe to strike, and then, astonishingly, the master rises and stands up alive. Tukaram draws the blunt conclusion that everyone around us, even people we count as our own, can turn out to be thieves in the crisis, and only the Name of Rama proves to be the true, dependable relative. It is a reminder not to place your final trust in people or circumstances, but in what actually stays faithful when everything else falls apart.
मराठी: तुकाराम महाराज एक जिवंत गोष्ट सांगतात, अचानक मरण येते आणि घरात लहान बाळ मागे राहते, त्याचवेळी चोर दार तोडायची धमकी देतात आणि हातपाय तोडण्याची भाषा करतात. एक जण दाढी धरतो, दुसरा हातात कुर्हाड घेऊन वार करायला जातो, आणि नेमक्या त्याच क्षणी तो मृत मानलेला माणूस उठून उभा राहतो. यातून तुकाराम स्पष्ट सांगतात की संकटाच्या वेळी आपले वाटणारे लोकही चोर ठरू शकतात, आणि शेवटी फक्त रामनाम हेच खरे सोयरे ठरते. याचा अर्थ असा की आपला अंतिम भरवसा माणसांवर किंवा परिस्थितीवर नाही, तर जे शेवटपर्यंत साथ देते त्यावरच ठेवावा.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's Rāma-Name = only-true-kinsman comic-narrative canonical